Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-05-07
GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION.
Some Thoughts Upon These Topics of H.
feresf tn Ten chers and Scholars

Some Thoughts Upon These Topics of H.
terest to Teachers and Scholars.
Almost all schemes of common school
education treat grammar and composition
as subjects quite Independent of each other,
but the two are SO inseparably linked, if not
perfectly identified in my thought, that
have chosen TO speak of them together.
The very definition of English grammar
that it teaches how to speak and write
the English language correctly-clearly
embraces the art of composition under its
second function. True it is that compost
ton signifies more than mere grammatical
accuracy-that it comprehends beauty of
expression and logical arrangement as well
but these latter are so greatly overshad-
owed by the paramount importance of the
| first, that to separate the two objects on
this ground must occasion host of dis
advantages which no resulting benefits can
| eoualize
have said that these two subjects have
been separated in teaching" but this, it is
| observed, Is something very different from
saying that they have been taught. l wish
l could say this, also, with as much truth
but my observation has been that almost
| the only teaching grammar receives is mis-
| teaching, and the reasons for this are quite
simple, and will suggest themselves almost
| Immediately to those who have ever tried
| to teach it at all The pernicious system of
topical teaching, which is most convent
emily followed in almost every other SUBJ
| ject, here proves both inapplicable and i'm
practicable, yet such has been the ruinous
influence of this false method that, in a
| manner, it has insinuated itself as well as
| it could, into the subject of grammar, too
1t was a triumph of ingenuity when
parsing Analysing and " diagramming F"
Ia H. -
turn was hailed as godsend and speedily
utilized, to the exclusion of all other gram
| mar exercises.
l remember with profound regret the in
| cessant practice l had in parsing while
pupil, and the feeling of wonder that would
| sometimes creep over me of what a tiny bit
there must be to learn in this world that
We must day in and day out parse the"
that" Tom" cat" until the very
| buzzing of flies was welcome relief to the
| monotony.
When in later life / exchanged the duties
Of. the pupil for those of the instructor, l
found another system already mapped ont
and everybody jogging along in a circular
rut. Diagramming and analysing had now
become the ruling passion, and any de-
parture from them was looked upon as
bold presumption and rank heresy. Occa-
slonally some OF my pupils, whom no as
surance that the rut ran somewhere would
content, Internationally clamored for a
broader field, but such clamor, by order
of the higher powers. was unceremoniously
stifed.
Thus the delusion that this practice was
the highway to mastery of the English
language grew upon them. To be able to
analyze and diagram" any sentence was
the goal, which, once attained meant liter
Destination, or afhi,,o IL
it as they could imagine. Scarcely mo-
ment could be devoted to the correction of
errors in speech, and in most cases written
exercises were graded on the penmanship
and the knowledge of facts alone.
That which they thought so worthy of
their own efforts, by natural process be-
came their standard for Judging others. l
should not wonder that had Shakespeare.
Milton, Macaulay. or any other famous au-
thor been placed before them and set to
analysing a complex sentence, his numer-
GUS departures from the stereotyped order
would have brought upon him glances of
supercllious Scorn or wondering pity.
But. it is urged, the object in all this is to
discipline. Very well, grant for the sake
of argument that the disciplinary virtue of
these methods are all that their champions
claim for them; is there not in all the SUBJ
lime range of human knowledge some one
thing, or some sources of things, that COM
bine this boosted discipline with the i'm
partation of useful information If we can
knock two apples with one stone, why not
do so? Must food be rendered unpalat-
able and indigestible to train our stomachs
to digest? Certainly not; yet how thought
lessly we disregard the reasoning of anal
ogy, and crowd upon the mind-the intel
lectual stomach-a mass of noxious food
that would have worried the mind of
Bacon himself to assimiiate-if such a thing
be possible at all.
Grammar is generally acknowledged to
be the hardest subject to systematic salts
factorily and to teach with beneficial re-
suits. 1t is so difficult to steer clear of the
Scylla of mechanical routine on the one
hand and the Charyhdis of vague generali-
ties on the other. But there is a safe mid
die way, and no capable, intellectual pilot
ought to fail in finding it, The trouble is.
encouragement comes too early in the
course; we weary of constantly guarding
against the two dangers, and with feeling
of helpless despair, we deliberately cease
our efforts and take choice between two
certain wrecks.
There must be a semblance OF safety in
this Scyllian rock that proves strongly
alluring to the educational mariner. We
feel certain degree of security in resting
upon system, no matter how crude and
barren such foundation may be. At anv
rate we are settled, and that goes great
way if we value ease and comfort.
For this reason the teaching of grammar
has often been reduced to systematic
farce, and candid teachers will admit the
absence of practical results. There is an
indistinct yet real sensation, figuratively
speaking, OF grasping at something in the
dark and ever in vain.
1t is always embarrassing to follow criti-
cism with suggestion, but the nature of
things compels it.
l think the question as to the proper
mode of teaching grammar and COM
position was answered long ago. Demos
themes answered it best, when with half
shaver head he retired to his secluded
retreat and there copied and re-copied the
most admired literature of his nation,
seeking the while rather by inhibition than
imitation to acquire those graces of style
that later rendered his name so illustrious.
What Demosthenes did with definite
purpose, all children do naturally and I'M
| consciously. only that with them the con-
versation of their elders takes the place of
| written masterpieces This, then, must be
| the natural method. 1t becomes a second
| nature with children to express themselves
in accordance with the familiar models
daily before them. In the language of
children are reflected the same beauties
and the same faults that embellish or mar
| the language of those with whom they are
continually associated, and it is the object
of education to encourage such beauties
and remove such faults.
| The facts here presented point clearly to
the only true system of teaching mother
tongue. This system already indicated in
| the previous remarks narrows itself down
to two general directions: First, insist
upon the utmost care on the part of pupils
in their use of language and, second,
| furnish them with correct verbal models in
your own speech, and read carefully with
| them the best literary works that may be
adapted to their age and comprehension
| Nothing more than this is needed, nothing
less will serve, and faithful adherence to
the plan is certain to work the most en-
couraging and beneficial results George
| II. Lepper, IN The Current.